In the United States, telephone service was historically provided almost exclusively by American Telephone and Telegraph, Inc. (now AT&T). Following the deregulation of the telephone industry in 1984, AT&T was limited to providing long distance telephone service, and local telephone service was thereafter provided by the Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOCs), such as Bell Atlantic and Southern New England Telephone (now SNET). Thus, following deregulation, the Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOCs) served as the exclusive local exchange carriers (LECs), and maintained the subscriber loop between the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) and each individual telephone subscriber. As competition in all segments of the telephone industry increases, however, non-Bell companies are poised to provide local telephone service.
In order to permit competition in the local telephone market, the Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOCs) must unbundle their subscriber loop, such that the Competing Local Exchange Carriers (CLECs) can access the subscriber. The tin bundling can occur at any point in the subscriber loop, between the LEC's Central Office and the subscriber's equipment. Currently, the LEC or CLEC must manually rewire the subscriber loop, to permit CLEC access. Depending on the location of the CLEC equipment, the subscriber's loop may be connected at the Central Office end or at the subscriber's end. If the CLEC's equipment is merely bridged on the LEC's loop, the resulting bridged cable and battery will undoubtedly cause transmission problems. Although some form of connection will have to be made at the point of the CLEC connection, the LEC is typically unwilling to permit the CLEC to modify the LEC's equipment at the subscriber facility. Thus, the LEC currently must dispatch a technician to the subscriber site to disconnect the LEC's loop, thereby incurring significant labor costs.
As apparent from the above-described deficiencies with conventional systems for unbundling subscriber loops, a need exists for a low-cost device that permits a LEC to remotely and selectively disconnect a subscriber loop when the subscriber elects to utilize a CLEC for local telephone service. A further need exists for an unbundling device that does not interfere with telephone signals or subscriber equipment and disconnects the LEC equipment even in the presence of a fault with CLEC or subscriber equipment. Yet another need exists for an unbundling device that allows the LEC to test the subscriber loop up to and beyond the demarcation point, where the CLEC accesses the LEC's subscriber loop.